Annual NORAD Exercise Commences in Labrador

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA--(Marketwired - Oct. 16, 2014) - The Canadian NORAD Region is hosting the flying portion of the NORAD exercise VIGILANT SHIELD from 20-26 October 2014 at 5 Wing Goose Bay, in Newfoundland and Labrador.

This year's annual exercise, held at 5 Wing Goose Bay, will include about 550 participants from the Canadian Armed Forces, the United States Air Force, and the United States Air National Guard.

Quick Facts

• NORAD is a bi-national command formed by a partnership between Canada and the United States. NORAD provides maritime warning, aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America.

• Exercise VIGILANT SHIELD provides participants the opportunity to realistically train and practice aerospace defence missions in a simulated training environment.

• Exercise VIGILANT SHIELD will see approximately 550 personnel from both Canada and the United States deploy to 5 Wing Goose Bay, NL, from 15-29 October 2014 which will include live flying scenarios from 20-26 October.

• A variety of aircraft will exercise contingency operations in the defence of North America. Deployed Canadian assets will include: CF-18s, and 8 ACCS (a deployable air space control system). Deployed American assets will include: F-15s, E-3 AWACs, and KC-135 tankers. Deploying units will also include all the necessary maintenance and support personnel to allow for sustained flying operation at this deployed location.

Quotes

"The mission fulfilled by NORAD in the defence of North America requires a tremendous amount of coordination and cooperation between Canada and the United States. It is a great pleasure for me, as the commander of the Canadian region, to host such a significant flying exercise where our personnel will be able to demonstrate their operational excellence during exercise VIGILANT SHIELD."

Major-General David Wheeler, Commander, 1 Canadian Air Division / Canadian NORAD Region

"The deployment of such a large number of aircraft and personnel to 5 Wing Goose Bay for the field training exercise of VIGILANT SHIELD will allow our Wing to demonstrate its ability to serve as a valuable training ground in support of NORAD's mission and showcase our own critical role in the defence of North America as a Forward Operating Location. It is with pride that our Wing continuously supports Canadian Armed Forces and allied training objectives."

Lieutenant-Colonel Luc Sabourin, Commander, 5 Wing Goose Bay

Associated links

NORAD

The Royal Canadian Air Force